O.C. House Prices Show Biggest Jump in 9 Years

Orange County Register

February 4, 2014

Orange County house prices rose faster in 2013 than in any year since 2004, CoreLogic reported on Tuesday.

A new report from the Irvine-based real estate tracker shows single-family home prices jumped 19.7 percent during the 12 months through December.

That’s the highest year-ending appreciation rate for the county since December 2004, when CoreLogic recorded gains of 22.9 percent.

On the other hand, appreciation rates have moderated somewhat since this past year's peak of 23 percent annual gains in August, and they are forecast to drop back into the single digits this year.

“We expect the rising prices to attract more sellers, unlocking this pent-up supply, which will have a moderating effect on prices in 2014,” CoreLogic chief economist Mark Fleming said.

Soaring demand and bidding wars drove up home prices last year. Low numbers of homes were offered for sale, while at the same time investors were buying heavily and renewed confidence in the market boosted home buying among owner-occupants.

CoreLogic bases its report on paired sales of single-family homes, comparing each home’s sale price to its previous sale price. The process is considered more reliable than other pricing methods since it is less influenced by last year’s big drop in foreclosures and short sales and rising sales of pricier homes.